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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: lash · land · track · bore · degree · present · clip · season

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. bore — to tire
  4. land — ground
  5. track — to keep track
  6. land — a country
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. present — there
  9. season — of the year
  10. present — a gift
  11. track — a path
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. degree — from a university
  14. present — the time now
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. season — in sport
  17. degree — temperature
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. bore — to drill
  21. land — to come down
  22. track — a song
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bore — gave birth

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com